Climate and average weather in Marsabit

In Marsabit, the weather is hot, wet, and mostly clear and remarkably steady, with daytime highs holding near hot levels all year. The wettest stretch peaks around November.

Best: mid May to mid October

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Marsabit typically varies from 20°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 19°C or above 34°C. February is the hottest month of the year, while November is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Marsabit for warm-weather activities are from early January to late January and mid May to mid October.

Hottest
Feb
32°
Coldest
Nov
21°
Wettest
Nov
89 mm
Driest
Sep
1 mm
Rain / yr
330 mm
68 wet days
Daylight
11.9–12.1 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
1,364 m
2.3°N
Clearest
Sep
33% cloud

Marsabit is town in Marsabit County, Kenya.

Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.

Marsabit weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around mid May to mid October.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Marsabit, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Marsabit stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is February, with an average high of 32°C and low of 22°C; the coolest is November, with an average low of 21°C and high of 29°C.

Days typically run about 9°C warmer than nights year-round.

15°20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan3121
Feb3222
Mar3223
Apr3022
May3122
Jun3021
Jul2920
Aug3020
Sep3121
Oct3121
Nov2921
Dec3021

How hot and cold Marsabit really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Marsabit feels like about 32°C (around March 16). About 51 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in March.

20°25°30°35°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan31312121
Feb32322222
Mar32322323
Apr32302222
May31312222
Jun30302121
Jul29292020
Aug30302020
Sep31312121
Oct31312121
Nov30292121
Dec30302121

Average hourly temperature in Marsabit

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on February afternoons, near 32°C, and coldest before dawn in November, near 21°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Marsabit weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan31° / 21°183.611.95.4
Feb32° / 22°101.911.94.8
Mar32° / 23°347124.5
Apr30° / 22°7515.5124.3
May31° / 22°163.912.15.3
Jun30° / 21°20.312.16.0
Jul29° / 20°20.412.16.4
Aug30° / 20°20.212.16.3
Sep31° / 21°10.2125.9
Oct31° / 21°417.311.95.1
Nov29° / 21°8917.711.94.8
Dec30° / 21°419.611.95.5

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Marsabit gets about 330 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 2.5 months, from around Oct 13 to Dec 27, peaking in November at about 59% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Aug 19.

November is the wettest month by volume, with 89 mm over about 18 wet days; September is the driest, with 1 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwettermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetNov 14 · 59%Aug 19 · 0%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan124
Feb82
Mar237
Apr4916
May144
Jun10
Jul10
Aug10
Sep10
Oct257
Nov5618
Dec3110

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Marsabit collects about 330 mm of rain across 68 wet days — roughly 27 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. November is the wettest month with 89 mm, while September is the driest at just 1 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 62% of the year’s total.

0255075100125JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec18103475162221418941
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan184
Feb102
Mar347
Apr7516
May164
Jun20
Jul20
Aug20
Sep10
Oct417
Nov8918
Dec4110

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Marsabit, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around August 16 and lasts for 2.3 months, ending around October 24. The clearest month is September, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 81% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around June 5 and lasts for 2.4 months, ending around August 15. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 47% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecSep 27 · 82%Jul 25 · 52%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastcloudierclearercloudier
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7327
Feb7129
Mar6535
Apr5644
May7228
Jun5842
Jul5347
Aug6634
Sep8119
Oct7327
Nov6040
Dec7327

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. Close to the equator, Marsabit barely changes through the year: days stay near 12 h 06 min of light in every season.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan11.96:416:34
Feb11.96:456:40
Mar12.06:386:37
Apr12.06:276:30
May12.16:216:27
Jun12.16:246:32
Jul12.16:306:37
Aug12.16:306:34
Sep12.06:226:23
Oct11.96:156:12
Nov11.96:176:10
Dec11.96:286:20

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Marsabit averages about 14 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 20 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 2.0 months, from around Aug 17 to Oct 17. The sunniest month is September, with roughly 19 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is November, down near 9 sunny days — about 55% fewer than the September peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecgreyersunniergreyergloomymixedbrightbrilliantSep 1920 daysNov 108 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan17Bright
Feb15Bright
Mar14Mixed
Apr9Mixed
May15Bright
Jun11Mixed
Jul10Mixed
Aug14Mixed
Sep19Bright
Oct15Mixed
Nov8Mixed
Dec15Mixed

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Marsabit, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 3.3 months, from around February 25 to June 3. The muggiest month is April, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 98% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around June 4 to October 15, and August is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 95% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAug 17 · 96%Apr 25 · 1%muggycomfortablehumiddryhumidcomfortablehumid
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)
Jan173333170
Feb133936101
Mar22243321
Apr0225694
May01454302
Jun4653010
Jul1479700
Aug1877500
Sep17711200
Oct63833240
Nov0428680
Dec71532460

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Across the year, average wind speed in Marsabit is typically light breeze, near 16 km/h, and varies moderately with the seasons.

The windier part of the year lasts 5.5 months, from around May 7 to Oct 21. The windiest month is September, averaging about 20 km/h (breezy).

The calmer part of the year runs from around Oct 22 to May 6, with December the calmest month at about 11 km/h.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmerwindiercalmercalmlight breezebreezySep 8 · 21 km/hDec 9 · 11 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan12calm
Feb13light breeze
Mar14light breeze
Apr14light breeze
May17light breeze
Jun19light breeze
Jul20breezy
Aug20breezy
Sep20breezy
Oct17light breeze
Nov12calm
Dec11calm

Best time to visit Marsabit

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Marsabit throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around early October, Marsabit is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Marsabit for general outdoor tourist activities run from mid May to mid October and again from early December to late January, with a peak score in the third week of July.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationJul 15 · 6.5

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan5.4fair
Feb4.8fair
Mar4.5fair
Apr4.4fair
May5.3fair
Jun6.0good
Jul6.4good
Aug6.3good
Sep5.9good
Oct5.1fair
Nov4.8fair
Dec5.5fair

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Marsabit for hot-weather activities run from early May to late October and again from mid December to late March, with a peak score in the second week of September.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationSep 8 · 8.6

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Marsabit, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

Marsabit packs about the same all year — highs hold near 32°C. Across the year the things worth having are light clothes, sun protection and rain gear.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In February, Marsabit sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 22°C. Pack light clothes and sun protection.

UV index (midday) in Marsabit by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Marsabit peaks around March 18 at about 15 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near June 19 at about 10 (extreme).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecExtremeMar 18UV 15Jun 19UV 10
UV index (midday)Level
Jan14Extreme
Feb14Extreme
Mar15Extreme
Apr15Extreme
May12Extreme
Jun10Extreme
Jul11Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep13Extreme
Oct14Extreme
Nov12Extreme
Dec12Extreme

Average hourly UV index in Marsabit

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in March the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan86
Feb86.5
Mar86.5
Apr8.56.5
May86
Jun7.55.5
Jul85.5
Aug86
Sep86
Oct86.5
Nov86
Dec7.56
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Marsabit is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Marsabit banks about 5,758 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around March.

02,0004,0006,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan499
Feb478
Mar534
Apr483
May504
Jun464
Jul456
Aug465
Sep474
Oct494
Nov440
Dec467

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Marsabit receives about 6.1 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — intense — with a clear seasonal swing between 5.2 and 6.9 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 2.1 months, from around Aug 17 to Oct 18. The brightest month is September, averaging about 6.8 kWh/m² (intense).

The dimmest month is November, down near 5.2 kWh/m² — roughly 22% less than the September peak.

012345678JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseSep 236.9 kWhNov 165.2 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan6.4Intense
Feb6.8Intense
Mar6.5Intense
Apr5.7Bright
May6.1Intense
Jun5.7Bright
Jul5.5Bright
Aug6.0Intense
Sep6.8Intense
Oct6.2Intense
Nov5.2Bright
Dec5.7Bright

Where is Marsabit?

Marsabit sits at 2.3°N, 38.0°E, 1,364 m above sea level, in Kenya. The nearest listed city is Moyale, 178 km away.

MoyaleMaralalGarba TulaHabasweinIsioloMauaWajirMeru

Topography around Marsabit

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Marsabit.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Marsabit has significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 412 m around an average of 1,346 m above sea level; within 16 km, large variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 993 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,364 m.

The land around Marsabit is covered by grassland (33%), trees (28%) and shrubs (24%) within 3 km, grassland (45%) and shrubs (35%) within 16 km, and grassland (59%) and shrubs (26%) within 80 km.

3 km
412 m
16 km
993 m
80 km
1,364 m
treesshrubsgrasslandcroplandartificial surfacesbare terrain
Nearby: Moyale 178 km · Maralal 199 km · Garba Tula 209 km · Habaswein 222 km · Isiolo 225 km · Maua 234 km · Wajir 239 km · Meru 257 km

Kenya travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type G
240 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 34% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$2,363
2025
Happiness
4.7 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Homicide rate
4.9
per 100k, 2022
Road deaths
28.3
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
High
EF EPI 593
Religion
Christian 86%Muslim 11%other 2%none 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Marsabit (2.3347°, 37.9909°, elevation 1,364 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).